I move amendment No. 28: In page 35, line 31, to delete “in lieu of payment” and substitute “in lieu of, or in exchange for a reduction in, payment”. I intend to move all these amendments and propose to discuss them together. Amendments Nos. 28 to 31, inclusive, are very straightforward amendments in relation to the element of this Bill that would provide the statutory provision on the issue of sex for rent, which needs to be outlawed. From the outset, we really welcome this provision and the first Bill I brought t…

I thank the Minister for the reply on the amendments. It is important that we do keep it under review. It is new legislation and it will be important to see how it plays out in respect of reports on the issue and people who come forward with any potential cases. It will be important to see how robust the legislation is. I am happy to withdraw the amendments at this stage. I appreciate that the Minister has been collaborative on this issue. When I introduced my own legislation - I think in April of last year - the i…

I move amendment No. 29: In page 35, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “(2) A person who, being a landlord or licensor of relevant accommodation that is let or licensed in exchange for payment, solicits or importunes another person to engage in sexual activity with any person in lieu of, or in exchange for a reduction in, payment in respect of the tenancy or licence shall be guilty of an offence.”.

I move amendment No. 30: In page 35, line 38, to delete “in lieu of payment” and substitute “in lieu of, or in exchange for a reduction in, payment”.

I move amendment No. 31: In page 36, line 6, to delete “in lieu of payment” and substitute “in lieu of, or in exchange for a reduction in, payment”.

I move amendment No. 32: In page 37, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “(d) the area does not contain any street furniture incorporating advertisements, apart from the name of the licensed premises, that are visible to members of the public, unless with the prior consent of the relevant local authority;”. Amendment No. 32 relates to the Bill's provisions regarding the licensing of outdoor seating areas in licensed premises. Through the amendment, the Civil Engagement Group seeks to prevent the erect…

On section 51, the Labour Party wholeheartedly welcomes this legislation but there are some outstanding issues which we wish to hear the Minister respond to. These issues were previously raised by my colleague, Deputy Nash, in the Dáil. A key issue is that this legislation needs to take account of members of the Defence Forces who received convictions under military law. These people cannot be excluded from this disregard proposal. Another issue is that we need to broaden the scope of who can submit an application …

I move amendment No. 33: In page 45, line 2, after “relative” to insert “, partner, or other demonstrably trusted person to the relevant person” I am moving this amendment on behalf of the Civil Engagement Group, with its permission. I will speak to the amendment initially. It seeks, on page 45, line 2 of the Bill, after "relative", to insert "partner, or other demonstrably trusted person to the relevant person". The amendment proposes to extend the provision that allows for relatives of a deceased person to apply …

I move amendment No. 16: In page 19, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 19A of Criminal Evidence Act 1992 16. (1) The Criminal Evidence Act 1992 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 19A: “Disclosure of third-party records in certain trials 19A. (1) In this section— ‘Act of 1950’ means the Nurses Act 1950; ‘Act of 1985’ means the Nurses Act 1985; ‘Act of 1995’ means the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995; ‘Act of 2005’ means the Health and Social Care Professi…

I congratulate the Leader on his appointment. I am sure that it is a really proud day for his family, who are in the Gallery. He has a long tradition of public service in his family and I am sure that his late mum is very proud watching him today. I also want to acknowledge Scott Ahearn in the Gallery. I knew Scott through student politics back in the day. I would say that the Leader has been involved in politics at all levels in Ireland at this point and I wish him well in his role. I congratulate Senator Cathal B…

The first issue I want to raise is the proposed closure of Carlow College. I had a public meeting online last night with concerned staff and students, people living in the area, members of the public, and students unions who are expressing deep concerns in relation to this, and seeking more clarity in terms of what will happen with specific courses and what it will mean for the local economy and students. My big concern is that this is a workers' rights issue. There was a lack of information and transparency when i…

I thank the House for facilitating me to speak earlier. I welcome the Minister to the House, and commend him on taking action on so many important areas. The first Bill I introduced to the Houses of the Oireachtas through the Seanad was on the issue of sex for rent, which is a terrible practice that needs to be outlawed. It is extremely welcome, therefore, that this aspect is being included in this legislation. We will be seeking to make some amendments on Committee Stage in relation to the Bill as a whole as well …

We have statements to mark Irish AIDS Day which took place two days ago. I welcome the guests in the Gallery. We have a number of guests who are working in this area, namely, Oisín O'Reilly, CEO of Outhouse in Dublin, and Davy Quinlivan from HIV Ireland. I also welcome Eddie McGuinness and Karl Hayden, who are campaigners and also represent Labour LGBTQ+. We have a number of other guests in the Gallery as well. They are very welcome. I welcome the Minister for Health and I invite her to make her opening remarks.

We thank the Minister for her commitment to the issue and for her engagement today in the Seanad, which is much appreciated.

I welcome the Minister of State and acknowledge the presence earlier of the Minister for Health and her officials for statements on Irish AIDS Day. I was really pleased to put in a request to have this discussed in the Seanad. I thank the Seanad Office for facilitating this. I had met representatives of the HIV Prevention Alliance in relation to this matter and they asked me what I could do. One thing was to have a debate and statements because raising awareness is important. It is important that those of all parti…

I thank the Civil Engagement Group for its work in bringing forward this important Bill. It has the full support of the Labour Party and the Cross-Party Group in the Seanad. It is a Bill that deals with what is fast becoming one of the most pressing issues of our time, which is the proliferation of autonomous weapon systems. We are already seeing the rapid expansion of the use of these systems in conflicts, wars and illegal wars across the world. The illegal bombing campaign waged on Iran by Trump's America and Net…

I want to speak to amendment No. 3. I will make some general points on the legislation. The Labour Party voted against this Bill in the Dáil. We agree that action is needed to tackle the infrastructure deficit in this country but we believe the Government has misdiagnosed the problem. This Bill would allow the Government to designate specific projects as critical infrastructure and thereby instruct public bodies to prioritise them and co-ordinate with other public bodies to deliver them. However, we strongly object…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, to delete lines 22 to 26 and substitute the following: “(4) A designation order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and the order shall not have effect until a resolution approving it has been passed by each such House.”.

The Minister of State said that the Opposition cannot handle the truth. I would ask him if he is dealing in the real world or auditioning for a role in the film "A Few Good Men". We can certainly handle the truth and we are exposing the truth here as part of this debate. That is what this amendment is about. We, here, in opposition are pro-EU. The Labour Party is pro the European Union and we are pro-trade that benefits Ireland. This amendment would further define the provision in section 25A(3) under which an awar…

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this important motion. It is telling how vexed the Government side is getting about this topic.